Ablaze
by piperup1030
Summary: Casey and Emily are injured in a building fire. A large secret from Emily's past is revealed. With this piece of what seems to be an infinite puzzle found, will it make Emiliah stronger? Or tear. Her. Apart.
1. Chapter 1

"AH!" Casey jumped onto my back at the sight of a rat. I just sat there and pretended this was one of the most normal things in the world. Well, in my world… it was. The rat scurried away, but Casey hung on.

"Um. Casey?" Raph said. "The rat's gone. You can let go of Em now."

I cocked an eyebrow and looked up at the teenager. Casey blushed and stepped down. "I wasn't scared! I just… wanted to see the street better," he defended. I just laughed and rolled my eyes.

We had picked up on Foot activity, but we weren't sure where. Leo ordered us to split up, to cover more ground. It was Raph, Casey, and I on one team, and than April, Donnie (hehehe), Leo, and Mikey on another. I honestly had no idea what was going through Leo's head when he put the three rowdiest members of the team in one group, (the Trio of Doom, as Mikey referred to us), but hey, I didn't object.

"Hey, Em," Raph called. I turned to look at him. Before I knew it, I was hanging over Raph, my waist resting on his shoulder. "Raph!" I said, laughing. "Put me down!"

"Nope." Raph just snickered.

"Casey, do something!" I managed to peak my head out from behind Raph's shell. My cheeks were turning red from the blood rushing to my head.

"I don't know, Emily…" Casey crossed his arms and put on that devilish smirk he had. "I'm likin' the view."

At that moment, I realized that he had a perfect view of my butt. "CASEY! You're such a PERV!" I yelled, making him laugh. "Raph, put me down!"

Raph let go of my legs, and I fell onto my back with an "oof!" I brushed myself off and glared at Casey and Raph. "Boys…" I rolled my eyes while they continued to laugh.

"-I expect you to proceed in this mission," we heard a voice say from below us. "It is _simple _compared to my other warriors demands. If you do fail, the consequences will be… grave."

We all peeked over, to see the metal armor and kabuto that we've all grown to know too well. Although, two new characters were with the Shredder. They weren't mutants, but appeared to be human. It as a man and a woman. The girl had wavy bleach blonde hair down to her shoulder blades, and the man had slicked back, jet black hair. The woman had kamas in her belt and the man had scythe. Why did I feel like something wasn't right…

"I wanna go down there," I said firmly, turning to the two boys. Alarmed looks fell upon both their faces.

"Emily, are you crazy!?" Casey said.

I sighed. "Not to fight, I just wanna get a better look at those other guys."

They thought for a moment, but agreed. We jumped the rooftops and landed quietly next to them, hiding behind a wall. I still couldn't see their faces, but I heard Shredder's plan.

They wanted to set the building on fire. Why, I didn't know, all I heard was Shredder saying something about setting the building aflame.

"_CLANK!" _I jumped at the sudden noise. Casey was so nerve wrecked, he _dropped _one of his hockey sticks. The look on his face said "I'm so so so so so so sorry…"

A tight chain wrapped around my waist and pulled me out of hiding. Casey and Raph followed. "I should've known you would show," Shredder growled.

"Well you didn't, so, boo!," I said bitterly, unwrapping the chain from my waist.

"I am not here to fight," said Shredder. I looked up at him in confusion. "But they are."

The two people stepped up, and I gasped when I realized why I knew something was wrong. "Emiliah, meet Marilyn and Arthur Gray."

I saw Raph's jaw drop, along with mine. Casey stared at us in confusion. "Do you know these people?!" He asked.

"You were dead…" I said under my breath. I started to shout, "FOR THIRTEEN YEARS I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!"

Casey grabbed my shoulder and pulled my back. "Skunk, are these people your parents?"

"Correct," said my father. He turned to look at me. He literally had the same hair as Loki. "Look at you." He lifted up my chin. "You've grown."

"Well duh." I swatted away his hands and looked at my mother. "Do you work for him?!"

"Well, yes." She smirked, the same way that I do. The longer I looked at them, the more of me I saw. I wonder if the blonde hair was from my mother, and then the jet black in my bangs and the single white stripe through my hair was from my father. "For the past thirteen years, he has been our master."

You'd think that I'd be the least bit happy that I found my parents. After thirteen years, here they were.

No. Not at. I was angered. Heartbroken.

They dumped me in the cold. I was two, and they just left me for Shredder.

Arthur jumped on me, his scythe drawn. We were all quick to react, though. I gave him a hard kick to the chest and then Casey and Raph pinned him down. I just slapped him.

_And it felt good. _

"What are you planning?" I hissed, staring into his dark brown eyes, exactly like mine.

An evil grin spread across his face. "You're too late."

I looked up, and noticed that my mother was gone. "Crap!" I hissed through my teeth. "We've gotta get 'er," I ordered. "I heard them saying that they're gonna set the building on fire." And with that, I ran off. With Raph and Casey following.

I ripped open the door, but a fiery explosion threw be back. "Emily!" Raph grabbed my hand and brought me to my feet. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks," I brushed off my jacket and pants. "But there are still people in there and the building's about to go up in flames." I turned, so that I was looking at Casey and Raph directly in the eye. "Raph, go set off a fire alarm. Casey, you and me are gonna go pound on doors. Our only priority is getting everybody out."

"What about your parents?" Casey asked as I turned around.

I paused. "...They don't matter right now." As I started for the doors, I quietly said to myself, "They never did."

"_BANG! BANG! BANG!" _I pounded on the doors of a random floor, yelling "Everybody out! There's a fire! Get out!" Soon, everybody got the memo, and there was nobody in the apartments.

Raph and Casey were already outside when I finally exited the building, heavily coughing from smoke. Raph patted me on the back.

Firefighters surrounded the building, and the Shellraiser pulled up in the alley. Apparently, Raph or Casey had sent a distress signal to everybody else.

Leo, Donnie, Mikey, and April climbed out and ran to meet us. "Are you guys okay?!" Donnie said, bending down so that he was eye level with me.

"Y-yeah," I said, still coughing. "We're fine."

"He's still in there!" The sad voice of a woman brought me to attention. "My husband! My husband, he's still in there!" The woman was crying to a fire fighter.

"I'm sorry ma'am…" Said the fireman.

I looked up at Casey and Raph. "We're going in there again, aren't we?" I said. The two boys exclaimed devious glances, and nodded. I smiled and sighed. "Okay. Here we go…" I quickly tied my jacket over my nose and mouth and took off.

"GUYS!" Leo yelled.

"HEY!" A fireman called. "GET BACK HERE! YOU CAN'T GO IN THERE!" But of course, we just ignored him.

The lobby was a wreck. Smoke was covering the ceiling and flames were everywhere.

But that wouldn't stop us. We started for the staircase, and…

'_SNAP' _

"_AHHH!" _

"_CASEY!" _

… It all went to hell.

**_A/N: Just to let you know this will be a three part story (Maybe four idk for sure)_**


	2. Chapter 2

"CASEY!" I yelled. A beam fell from the ceiling and fell onto the teenager, crushing his legs.

"Em!" Raph called out. "I'll get Case! Just go find the guy!"

I gave Casey one quick glance. Even though he had his mask on, I could tell that tears were streaming down his face, and his fists were clenched so hard that his knuckles were white. I felt so bad. I wanted to help him.

But I couldn't. I had to find the man, before it was too late.

Tonight, I wasn't a vigilante. I was a firefighter. But either way, I'm a hero.

I flew up the stairs, listening for cries, or any noises indicating where the man was.

And I heard it.

"Help…!" It was so faint, nearly impossible to hear over the noise. But I heard it. "Help…!"

I followed the noise. The man was wedged in between two floor beams and a door. I hacked the wood with my axe, careful not to hit the man. His blonde hair was singed gray. I grabbed his hand to pull him up, and undid the jacket around my nose and mouth so that I could put it on him. That would leave him to breathe easier, but I would be sucking in the smoke. Right then it didn't matter.

"Ah!" My arm touched one of those fire extinguisher boxes, and the hot material of the box gave me a nasty burn. "Are you okay?" the man asked, his voice muffled by my coat.

I looked up at him. "Yeah, I'm fine. C'mon, the exit's right up ahead." We carefully went down the stairs and limped to the exit.

But of course, the exit was blocked. Why am I not surprised? "Oh no…" The man whispered under his breath.

I took my axe from it's sheath, and slaughtered whatever was blocking the exit. When I finished, the man just stared at me with happy awe. "C'mon," I said, grabbing his arm to steady him. "Your wife is out there."

"J-Jeremy?" The same woman that had been crying to the fireman covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes wide. "Jeremy!" She ran towards her husband with open arms, and held him close. Tears streamed down both of their faces as they held each other. I smiled to myself.

Until I remembered Casey.

I bolted, without saying anything, to the back of the building. The Shellraiser was still there, waiting for me. Raph ripped open the door, and pulled me into one of his rare hugs. "You're okay!" he exclaimed.

"Were you worried?" I asked, a smirk on my face.

He let go. "What? No…" He said, a blush on his cheeks. I just rolled my eyes and gave him another hug. He let me.

My face fell serious. "How's Casey?"

"I-I got 'im out," Raph said. "But his legs pretty bad. Might be broken. I think you should talk to him…"

Raph followed me into the vehicle. Casey was sitting in my seat, his legs elevated by an extra chair. His eyes were slightly bloodshot, and the faint tracks of past tears stained his cheeks. I walked over to him and kneeled down. "Hey, Case."

He smiled brightly and wrapped his arms around my neck, pulling me into a hug.

I we held each other. I told him everything was going to be okay, while he was holding back tears.

"Can I look at it?" I asked him. He gave me a painful nod, and I lifted up his pant legs.

It was bad. His left leg seemed okay, just a few cuts and bruises. But it was the right one that panged my heart. It was just one big bruise. One of his many cuts was bleeding heavily. I heard him draw in a sharp breath at the sight of it.

"Here," I took off my jacket and tied it around the bleeding cut, acting like a bandage. "That should help."

"T-thanks," he said, fighting the lump in his throat. "it still hurts though," he threw in a small laugh. "It hurts a lot."

"I know…" I draped my arm over the back of his neck and he rested his head on my shoulder. "I'm sorry. I really am. It'll all be over soon..."

Casey took my hand. The poor kid was in so much pain, and there was nothing I could do about it.

"You're gonna have to hold on until we get back home," Donnie said, only removing his eyes from the screen in front of him for a second. "I forgot the first-aid kit in the rush. It's not that far though. Okay?"

"O-okay," Casey said, his voice quiet. He gave my hand a tight squeeze and I caressed his knuckles with my thumb.

Through the screen, I could see the street and sky. The stars were just little specks of light. Some were bigger, some were smaller. I've always liked being under the stars. But right now, that's not what I was focusing on.

The ride felt long. Once we got home, Casey didn't move from his seat. "We're home. 'You okay?"

"I…" Something told me that he was gonna break down. I could just see it in his brown eyes. I made a quick hand motion behind my back, telling my brothers and April to leave. At least one of them saw it, because they all left. Casey continued what he was previously saying once it was just me and him. "I can't walk. It's gonna hurt. I know it's gonna hurt." His eyes brimmed with angry tears.

I wiped his eyes. "Do you wanna try? Maybe it won't be so bad." He nodded in agreement.

Casey took my arm and pulled himself up, with my assistance. "Ah! Ow!" He fell back into the chair, clutching his leg. Small streams of tears fell down his cheeks.

"Casey…" I kissed his forehead and wiped his eyes once again. "I can just carry you, if that would be easier."

He looked away. "They'll laugh."

I lifted up his chin, so that he was staring into my eyes. "Case, they won't laugh. _Everybody _out in the lair _right now_ has had to do it before. And in a situation like this, I am one-hundred percent sure they will not give it a second glance. Can you believe me?"

He nodded, and wrapped his arm around the back of my neck. I picked him up bridal style and carried him out to the couch, his legs slung over the arm of the sofa.

Donnie smiled at me and Casey. "Okay, Casey. I'm gonna have to put alcohol on your wounds. It's gonna sting a little bit. 1, 2, 3-"


	3. Chapter 3

Donnie removed the jacket from Casey's leg and laid it down onto the floor, for it had a large bloodstain. He lowered the alcohol swab. "1, 2, 3-"

"Wait."

Donnie stopped himself, just before the alcohol swab hit the cut. "What's wrong?"

Casey looked up at me, a red tint to his cheeks. "Em…?"

I crouched down by him. "Yeah, what's up?"

"C-can you hold my hand again?" A heavy blush covered his cheeks. I smiled, "Of course, Casey." He made room for me on his right side, and I squished in and took his hand.

Casey looked up at Donnie. "Okay… lets do this." Donnie counted down from three, and placed the swab on the open cut. Casey let out a small cry and buried his head on my shoulder, his grip on my hand was tight.

I rubbed his thigh. "Hang in there, Case. It'll all end soon, just bear with me," I cooed, giving him a soft kiss on the forehead.

A quick sob escaped his throat. "It hurts."

"I know, I'm so sorry." I gave him a half-hug, wrapping my free arm around his chest, and pressed my forehead against his, kissing it once again. "I'm so, so sorry."

After the alcohol, Donnie had to stitch up the cut. Casey winced when he put the vaccine in the wound, but was pretty calm after that. He still didn't like seeing it get stitched up, so he kept his head buried in the crook of my neck.

"Can someone get me an ice pack?" Donnie asked after he finished with all the cuts. Only the one needed stitches, but the rest were bad enough to have to be cleaned.

Casey had seemed to have calmed down, so I volunteered. "I'll do it." After I was up and heading towards the kitchen, I started to think out loud. "Do you know what bugs me? After the fire, we never found where Marilyn and Arthur went."

Leo got up, from where he was helping Raph with his own injuries. Mikey and April looked up from a video game. "Wait," Leo started, "Marilyn and Arthur? Like, your parents?" I could hear Mikey gasp.

At that moment, I realized that I didn't really wanna talk about what had happened tonight. But, there was no turning back now. "Yeah… th-they're alive. We saw them tonight." I sniffled. Yes, I was absolutely heartbroken, but I couldn't break down now. "They were behind the fire."

Everybody (except for Casey and Raph) stood there, gawking. I turned around and headed for the kitchen. "I-I didn't say anything. Forget it."

"Wait, you actually saw your parents?" Mikey said. "They're alive! Aren't you happy?"

I turned around and looked Mikey dead in the eye. "Arthur tried to kill me. They're not my parents." Mikey's face fell. I turned around and started toward the kitchen again. "They never were."

I had the ice pack in my hands, but I didn't wanna leave the kitchen just yet. I just needed a few seconds to cool off. But Mikey walked in. I felt so bad when I saw that he had those sad, puppy dog eyes. "Mikey, I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have snapped." I said.

Mikey walked up to me and took my hands in his. "Emily, you've been there for me for almost my whole life. I feel like right now, I need to be there for you." And he hugged me. "You have all of us."

Tears stung my eyes as I held him to my chest. "I love you, Mikey. I love you so much."

"I love you to, Emmy." He kissed my cheek. A small sob escaped my throat and I felt a few tears roll down my cheeks. I hate breaking down, but there are moments where I couldn't help it.

The boys and April sat in front of the television set, watching a movie. I was watching it with them, but I was sitting on the couch. Casey had fallen asleep, his head lay on my lap. My hand rested on his stomach. Even Splinter was watching the movie!

Yes, I did have to tell everyone. And yes, I managed to do it without crying (somehow). But, everybody was there for me, and I think that that was the only thing that got me through it.

Once the credits rolled on the screen, Raph and April were passed out on the floor, and Mikey, Leo, and Donnie looked like they could fall asleep right there. Mikey yawned, "I'm… tired."

Leo laughed. "We all are. Let's hit the hay."

Donnie picked up April and carried her off to her room. Leo did the same to Raph. Splinter took Mikey's hand and walked him to his room. "Emiliah," my (real) father said. "Aren't you going to bed?"

"Yeah, in a little bit," I replied. "I wanna make sure he doesn't wake up," I pointed to Casey, who was still sound asleep. Splinter smiled and continued to walk Mikey to his room.

I listened to the music that was playing behind the credits. Casey shifted, snuggling closer into my side. I quietly chuckled, wondering if he knew what he was doing.

After the credits were over, and I had watched one of those extra things, I decided that it was time for bed. With Casey's leg, it would be better if he slept on a bed, not a couch. For that, he would be sleeping in my room and I would be on the couch. So I picked him up and carried him off.

After I had tucked him in, something caught my eye. My journal.

I had been ten years old when I had gotten that journal. It was late at night, and I had snuck topside. For the first time in three years, I was above ground. I already had all three of the scars on my face, the black stripe in my hair, and my axe. A man had approached me with the journal. Why he was there, I had no idea. As he gave me the journal, his exact words were; "You look like somebody with a story to tell."

Before I could even say thank you, he had walked away. There was so much he didn't know.

Ever since that day, I had used the journal. It was one of the leatherback ones with like, 500 pages and the two strings you have to tie together to close it. I mainly used it as a diary, and I would write song lyrics and stuff. I remember writing something to my parents.

I picked up the journal and flipped through the pages, desperately searching for the letter. And I found it. It was a few lyrics of a song, with the title "To My Parents" at the top. I was probably twelve when I wrote this.

_To My Parents, _

_Some days I feel broke inside but I won't admit. Sometimes I just wanna hide 'cause it's you I miss. And it's so hard to say goodbye when it comes to this. Would you tell me I was wrong? Would you help me understand? Are you looking down upon me? Are you proud of who I am? There's nothing I wouldn't do, to have just one more chance, to look into your eyes and see you looking back. _

_Oh, it's dangerous_

_It's so out of line_

_To try and turn back time… _

I just looked at it. I didn't want this there anymore. I tore the paper out and threw it into a corner.

I also had a picture. Just one picture of me and my parents. I was two, and it was taken about two weeks before they had "died".

They lied to me. For thirteen years, they had lied to me. And that lie shattered me. I hadn't known what they sounded like, acted like, felt like. Just their names and what they looked like.

I couldn't help it. I plucked the frame off the wall and ran out of the room, into Donnie's lab. I looked down at the picture. I looked so happy. Marilyn and Arthur were holding me in between them, they each had a smile on their face.

And then I looked at the wall in front of me. Donnie's lab was big, so the wall was far away.

I hesitated.

But I did it.

I chucked it. I chucked the picture across the lab. I heard it crash against the wall and shatter on the floor.

I was happy with myself. I didn't need that in my life anymore.

But I was still angry. Tears stung my eyes, and I bit my lip.

I ran out of the lab and sat down onto the couch, burying my head in my knees. Crying.

This was tearing me apart.


	4. Chapter 4

I woke up to the sound of ripping paper. When I opened my eyes, Emily's figure stood before me. She took the paper she had ripped out of a notebook and tossed it into a corner. After that, she took a picture off of her wall and rushed out of the room.

I managed to get myself up into a sitting position. Conveniently, there was a crutch next to the bed. Emily must've gotten hurt a while back, or just put it there when I wasn't looking. Anyways, I put the crutch under my arm, hobbled over to the corner, and picked up the note. It read;

_To My Parents, _

_Some days I feel broke inside but I won't admit. Sometimes I just wanna hide 'cause it's you I miss. And it's so hard to say goodbye when it comes to this. Would you tell me I was wrong? Would you help me understand? Are you looking down upon me? Are you proud of who I am? There's nothing I wouldn't do, to have just one more chance, to look into your eyes and see you looking back. _

_Oh, it's dangerous_

_It's so out of line_

_To try and turn back time… _

I recognized the song. "Hurt" by Christina Aguilera. The handwriting made me guess that she had done this when she was younger. The notebook she had ripped the paper from sat on a desk.

I opened it. I had to. I'm Casey Jones, whaddya expect.

About half the book was filled out. The pages were unlined, and a lot of them were song lyrics. I've noticed how much Emily adores music, so this didn't surprise me. A lot of the lyrics seemed to have a meaning, though. The last page that had been filled out said this;

_There's a place that I know_

_It's not pretty there and few have ever gone._

_If I show it to you now_

_Will it make you run away?_

_Or will you stay..._

_Even if it hurts?_

_Even if I try to push you out, will you return?_

_And remind me who I really am_

_Please remind me who I really am..._

_Everybody's got a _

_**DARK SIDE**_

_Do you love me?_

_Can you love mine?_

_Nobody's a picture perfect_

_But we're worth it_

_You know that we're worth it_

_Will you love me?_

_Even with my __**dark side**__? _

_Don't run away_

_Don't run away_

_Don't run away_

_Promise you'll s _

_t _

_a_

_y… _

I read it twice. Emily has always been this peppy, upbeat, funny, happy kid.

Apparently, that was on the outside. I wonder if she always felt like this. I really hope she didn't. I took a pen off the desk and wrote;

_Pretty, pretty please_

_Don't you ever, ever feel_

_Like your less than_

_Less than perfect_

_Pretty, pretty please_

_If you ever, ever feel_

_Like you're nothing_

_You are perfect to me_

_-Casey Jones _

I smiled.

"_CRASH!" _I jumped when I heard (what I thought was) shattering glass. I walked to the door of the bedroom, the journal still in my hands. Emily walked out of Donnie's lab and practically threw herself onto the couch, burying her head in her knees. Her long hair draped over her back, like a blanket.

I walked over and sat next to her. "Em?" I said, reaching out and touching her shoulder. "You okay?"

She lifted up her head, not looking at me. In her eyes was something I've never seen her have.

Tears. "I don't know, Case."

I scooted a little closer to her and opened up my arms, offering a hug. She wrapped her arms around my neck and buried her head into my shoulder. I could hear a small sob erupt from her chest.

I was scared. I have never seen Emily cry. This must've hit her home.

She pulled away. "Sorry," she said weakly, wiping her nose. I kinda found it funny that she wiped her nose, not her eyes. She looked up at me, her mouth pulled to the side.

I put my hand under her chin and tilted her head up. "Don't be." Her beautiful brown eyes glistened with tears. And I'll admit, I got lost in them.

She gave me a weak smile. I smiled back. I saw one of her fang-like canines. I gave her forehead a soft kiss. She laid down and rested her head on my chest.

"You have my notebook." She said, not looking at me.

"Oh, uh…" I stammered.

She looked up at me. "Did you read it?"

"What? No…"

"Casey," she smirked. "Did you read it."

"Um… m-maybe. But only like, two things!" I defended. She reached for the notebook. "Are you mad at me?" I asked, my voice shaky.

She laughed. "Nah. You wanna hear what I have to say. That's something." She flipped through the pages, reading a couple passages she wrote. "I got this when I was ten." She told me the story on how she got it.

After a long pause of silence, I asked; "What was that crash noise?"

"I threw a picture," is all she said, her tone of voice showing almost no emotion.

"What picture?"

"_A _picture." I suddenly understood. I remembered seeing just one picture of her parents in her room. She must've thrown that. Emily laughed when I started to play with her hair.

"Y'know," I said, my voice cocky. "If they ever come after 'ya, I'll protect 'ya."

She laughed. "Thanks, Case." I heavily blushed when she kissed my cheek.

Without really thinking, I softly kissed her on the mouth. And she let me. After we pulled away, I got lost in her eyes all over again.

Her arm still had the burn, which had turned a reddish yellow color. "Hey Skunk, did you get your burn checked out?"

"Huh?" She looked up at me. "Oh, no, not yet. I guess I forgot about it."

"You breathed in a lot of smoke, too."

"I'll have Donnie check me out tomorrow. But I feel fine, really." She paused. "It's gonna suck having to explain the broken picture to Donnie tomorrow," she said, plopping her head down onto my chest again. I stroked her arm.

"I'll help 'ya." She smiled. I thought for a moment, and felt a frown cross my face. "I can't believe that Arthur guy tried to kill you. Your own dad!"

"He's not my dad," she said bluntly. "Splinter is."

I scowled, thinking angry thoughts. "We still don't know where they went, though. I swear to God, next time I see 'em, I'm gonna pop 'em one so hard-"

"Casey," Emily laughed. "Everything's gonna be okay."

And I relaxed. I knew that everything's gonna be okay…

…Because Skunk told me that everything's gonna be okay.

_**A/N: And... that's it! Thank you all so much for reading my mini-series! Jomeliah is officially a ship now... **_


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